jorgelito

So I've been thinking of getting a or some fish. I used to keep a 30 gallon of African cichlids and a 20 gallon of goldfish.

I don't have time/space/money for a big tank right now butI was entertaining the thought of getting a bowl of 1-2 goldfish or just one fighting fish.

Any thoughts?

Lady Sage

Bowls are better suited for your bettas. Most other fish require oxegynated water.

They do have those lil 2 or 3 gallon jobs with lil filters. I always loved mollies! I had gads of mollies... they breed worse than rodents! (However, mom and dad are quite the Hannibal Lechter type)

maleficent

there's a thread here somewhere that says round bowls make fishes go blind... and some places (i don't think it was the us actually) are working towards banning round bowls.

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jorgelito

What about square bowls - oh wait, nevermind.

Hmmm...can we get some more opinons or verification on the bowl thing?

I also saw some neat 2-5 gallon all inclusive tanks (filters etc). That may be a good option, space permitted.

Lady Sage

They fit nicely on a kitchen counter or a bathroom counter.

Gatorade Frost

I hear that's only if the fish are masturbating

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Elphaba

^^^^^ Ya got me good!

maleficent

the problem with the round bowl, if i remember correctly, is that it doesn't allow enough air circulation.. is the bowl itself is larger than the opening.. therefore the water doesn't have enough oxygen in it... and the fishies go blind...

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ChangingMyName

My parents gave my son one of those...They're fine for 1-2 small fish. They won't work for more than that (not enought oxygen). I added an air rock (can't remember if that's the right term) and it kept it from needing cleaning too quickly. Before I was cleaning it weekly. Now, I can't remember the last time I cleaned it...Those poor fish!

MiSo

imo, bowls are the worst things for a goldfish.
many people don't realize how big a goldfish can get.
goldfish are supposed to have 10 gallons per inch of fish.
they also produce lots of waste so they should be kept in a big tank with adequate filtration.

if you're going to do a bowl, it would be better to do it for a betta.
i saw a nice big snifter glass at walmart the other day. i was thinking of turning it into a low maintaince cherry shrimp bowl. that would be nice.

Elphaba

I have seen vases with a water plant and one fish inside. In theory the plant oxygenates the water, but I don't recall how the fish is fed. Let me see if I can google something on that.

Lady Sage

The fishy eats the bacteria and algae.

jorgelito

Thanks for all the input guys. So what I gather so far:

1. Bowl is ok for bettas. Adding a plant or lucky bamboo plant is nice too as it creates a mini system.

2. Goldfish are messy and require at least 1 gallon per inch of fish. Thus, bowl is not a good idea.

What about a mini tank? There are a whole bunsh of 2-5 gallon tank kits including filter and air stone. They are designed for bookshelves and desks I think. I bet one or two goldfish would be ok in there.

Gilda

One of the science teachers back home had a sealed self-sustaining ecosystem.

Edit: It's algae, shrimp, and other microorganisms.

We have a . . . really big aquarium in our living room. I don't know the size in gallons, but its A LOT. The fish are Grace's thing, but I do know that there are like 25 or 30 in there.

Gilda

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TivaBella

My boss was given a betta fish is a supposedly self sustaining environment. It has been just over a week and the fish is close to dying. He is hardly moving and very pale. I know nothing about this so am hoping someone can give me some advice. All I know for sure is it is a large vase with rocks on the bottom and a large plant with the roots hanging into the water. He was given some food to feed the fish once a week. The water did get very dirty so we changed it, but there seems to be no improvement.

Does anyone know anything about this kind of stuff? Any advice?

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monkeysugar

Betas can and will do "ok" in a small bowl. In my experience they are much "happier" when placed in a larger tank. Small bowls are convenient and can make a nice desk accent, but they require a lot of maintenance. Like, daily or every few days. When you've got that little water and especially with no filtration, decaying food and detritus will change the water chemistry a lot faster and more drastically than a larger habitat with filtration. Also, if he is just putting in tap water, he might do better to let it sit overnight before changing it out, or (preferrably) invest in some water treatment chemical. Pretty much any municipal water source has enough chlorine and other chemicals in it to not be overly healthy for whatever aquarium fish might be swimming around in it.

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jorgelito

Bettas are weird. As far as I know, they don't move around much to begin with and just sort of hang there. Also, bettas tend to change color, that is brighten or darken when "threatened" of if they see other fish, bettas etc, especially of they are male. Google bettas for more info on them.

Aro23

get a tank for them they need 1 gallon for every inch length for proper growth and always get a bigger tank as they'll grow or you might get a different fish in the future

actinic

There is no evidence that fish go blind being in a round bowl. Optical conditions are different looking from water into air is different than visa vera. Those that have a swimming pools can try this experiment.

If you have a large clear plastic container (larger the better) that will fit your head with goggles/dive mask on. Go into the shallow end and submerge the container. Stick your head in and pop your head out with the container on out of the water so that the opening of the container doesn't come out of the water. That's the the fish will see while in the aquarium. Try it with rectangular/square, cylindrical and spherical shapes.

NOTE: if you hurt yourself, I am not liable for this suggestion. Please take the proper precautions.

For fish suggestions and care, join a fish forum or club for advise and guidance. Equipment, experiences, products and techniques vary.

HTH/JM2C

kel

Betta fish (fighting fish) do not need oxygenated water, but they DO need filtration. One betta can live in a bowl IF you give him a filter of some kind. A miniature 1-gallon tank with a built-in filter is probably your best bet. Esclipse System 2 or Hex 5 is an excellent choice.

Bettas CANNOT survive in a vase with a plant on top, because they are carnivorous. They cannot eat algae or plant roots, and the plant's roots do not oxygenate the water--only the leaves do that. But it takes over a month for a healthy betta to starve to death, so most people assume the problem was disease or something else, and do not realize that the poor betta was killed by their bad choice in living situation.

You can keep a betta in a plant vase IF there is open water at the top for him to breathe (they breathe air like we do with a special "labrynth organ") AND you feed him every day with betta food AND you change the water regularly. If the tank is less than one gallon, you must change the water every day or every other day at least. If the bowl is 1 or 2 gallons ,change the water twice a week. If it is larger than that, it's probably a fish tank with a filter, and you only need to change part of the water once a week.

Betta fish WILL DIE without daily or semi-daily water changes in a bowl or tank without filtration. They are quite sensetive, as their long fins are vulnerable to fin rot.

All this aside, they make excellent and engaging pets, and in an aquarium 2 or more gallons with interesting things inside it, they have lots of fun behaviors to watch. Putting such a nice pet into a tiny bowl is really cheating both the fish and yourself.

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genuinegirly

i was pet-sitting a goldfish once that was in a small filtered tank. The owners left the filter off. The owners let the algae grow. They fed the fish "when they remembered to". they really just had me there to watch their dog.
I put their goldfish in a clean tupperware and scrubbed out its tank. with no chemicals. i treated its water with the proper stuff that i use on my reliable tank at home. i put the goldie in the shiney little mini-tank and turned on the filter. I then went to bed.

in the morning, it was dead.

i guess it liked the filth?

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Aro23

when you change the water, only change it once a week with only 20% plus when you do the water change let the water stand for awhile before addding it to the tank or the bowl for that matter

when doing tank maintenance you're not suppose to change everything like 80% water change........cleaning the filter, sand or gravel. you are only suppose to do them one at a time giving a week before doing the other because when you do change everything at once it kills the beneficial bacteria that was on the aquarium. also don't put too much chemicals.

Sun Tzu

Do you know how long they had it going? Thats sounds like a very interesting idea. One that I never considered, but would be a very cool thing to have. Miniture biodome.

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cadre

Well I would just like to say that I think that bowls are cruel. Mostly because they slowly suffocate the fish, partly because it's not enough space or enough of an environment for them to thrive. The size of the tank is not important when deciding what fish can fit in it. It's the amount of surface area. The reason being that the top of the water is where the gas exchange occurs. Thus allowing the water to have the oxygen to support fish. A filter serves partly to help to get more oxygen into the water and partly to clean it.

If you want a fish but you don't have alot of space I would suggest looking at those mini tanks, they work pretty well if you don't fill them with fish. Pick up a book at the library or something and look at what it says, those books will help you alot with figuring out how to chose a tank and how to chose fish for it. I think that for the mini tanks the best fish are small ones like guppies or tetras. Guppies breed very fast so be aware of that, tetras however come in many shapes, sizes, and colors and don't breed particularly fast.

Also, for those of you that have tanks or are looking for some, DO NOT EVER change all the water that the fish is in at once. You will probably shock it to death. If you have to take the fish out, keep it in a clean container and fill the container with water from the tank, or at least a good amount of it. When cleaning the tank, don't empty it all at once. Empty half of it ideally, if you have to change all of it utilize plastic bags and there are chemicals you can add that will make the water more suitable for fish life.

I know a good amount about this, if you have other questions let me know. If I can't tell you I can look it up. Plus, those books are very helpful and not expensive.

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